Power of Automation:: Automating SLA Timelines for First Response & Resolution for Issues module.

Power of Automation:: Automating SLA Timelines for First Response & Resolution for Issues module.

Hello Everyone,
 
Ever wished SLAs could update automatically based on issue severity i.e no manual tracking, no missed timelines? That is exactly what one of our customers, Alex, wanted to achieve in the Issues module. So, we have setup a simple automation that handles both First Response and Resolution SLA using Custom function along with Business rules

Prerequisites:

Below are the list of custom fields created in Issue layout. 

Custom Field Label
Field Type
Purpose
First Response SLA Deadline
Date/Time
Target deadline to acknowledge issue
Resolution SLA Deadline
Date/Time
Target deadline to resolve issue
First Response Time
Date/Time
When issue first changed to Acknowledged
Resolution Time
Date/Time
When issue first changed to Resolved

 
Custom statuses to be created :

Acknowledged
Resolved
 
Upon Issue creation above fields should be updated automatically based on the severity set in the Issue. Below is the Severity and SLA Policy Matrix. 

SLA Policy Matrix:

Severity
SLA for First Response
SLA for Resolution
Critical
2 business hours
4 business hours
High
4 business hours
8 business hours
Medium
8 business hours
16 business hours
Low
16 business hours
24 business hours

 
Once an issue is created, the SLA deadlines are automatically calculated based on the selected severity.

For example, if an Issue is created as Network Block at 12 PM IST and Severity is Critical then First Response SLA Deadline should be set as 2 PM IST (2 business hours from creation). 

Once the Issue status is updated as Acknowledged, that specific timestamp will be updated as First Response time and the Resolution SLA deadline field will be updated accordingly. 

For example, if the status of the issue is updated as Acknowledged at 1 PM IST, then the Resolution SLA deadline should be updated as 5 PM IST (4 hours from the time of acknowledgement). 

Finally when the status of the Issue is updated as Resolved, that timestamp would be captured in the Resolution time.
 
I have attached the sample custom functions along with the parameters to be mapped for reference. Custom function should be triggered using Business Rule feature under Issue Tracker module. 

With this automation, Alex’s team no longer needs to manually calculate or update SLA deadlines. Everything is handled instantly ensuring quicker acknowledgements, faster resolutions, and improved overall productivity.

We hope you found this post useful. If you have any questions, feel free to share them in the comments below.

    • Sticky Posts

    • Automation Series: Auto-assign Task Followers

      As task progresses, several users are required to stay aware of the updates to plan their upcoming work items efficiently. Manually adding users as followers for an active task might create additional overhead. With this automation, followers can be added
    • WhatsApp Business Integration for Zoho Projects

      Delivery channel plays a decisive role in how quickly certain project updates translate into immediate actions. A release is ready to go live. An issue is marked critical. An approval is pending. These moments are less about tracking and more about timely
    • Enhanced Collaboration and Global Web Tabs

      Hello Users, We are rolling out two key enhancements in Zoho Projects that will be part of our November release. Here’s what to expect: 1. Collaboration Section in the Left Navigation Panel What’s new? All communication and interactive tools will be grouped
    • Choosing the Right Automation in Zoho Projects

      In any project, different types of actions are needed at different points. Some projects require control on how tasks move, some require reacting to updates, and some require executing additional actions beyond the task. Automation in Zoho Projects is
    • Introducing Version-3 APIs - Explore New APIs & Enhancements

      New Update - The end of life timeline for V2 APIs has now been extended to 30th June, 2026 Happy to announce the release of Version 3 (V3) APIs with an easy to use interface, new APIs, and more examples to help you understand and access the APIs better.
    • Recent Topics

    • Link webform to a job opening

      I have a webfrm embeded on my website and everytime a candidates fill the form, their candidate status is to new. Is it possible that it links to a specific job opening instead of me having to assing it manually ? Thanks
    • New in WorkDrive: Organize your storage using Data Templates

      Organizations generate huge volumes of data day in and out. From financial reports, client details, and resumes to promotional images, product videos, and more. The list is endless. When you have so much data to manage, you need to classify your documents and structure them in a way that makes them more accessible.  This is exactly what WorkDrive's Data Templates lets you do! You can create Data Templates, add meta data as custom fields, and associate those fields with files and folders based on
    • Need Native Support for docx files in Zoho Writer

      Absolutely love Zoho Writer, but often need to share files by email with people who are in the Office ecosystem. Downloading a file as docx, then sending it by email, getting the comments back, converting it to Zoho format, editing it, then converting
    • Mirror Component in Zoho CRM: Access real-time related data without leaving your record

      Hi everyone, This feature is now available for the JP, CA, SA, UAE, and AU DCs. We're excited to bring to you Zoho CRM's mirror component, which presents relevant data on a record's details page and keeps everything users need in one place without having
    • Associate records via the Multi-select lookup RELATED LIST via API

      In the REST API, is there a way to associate records for a multi-select lookup related list other than via the linking module? There are two methods for the lookup: 1. via insert records API 2. via the linking module ...as described in https://help.zoho.com/portal/en/community/topic/kaizen-125-manipulating-multi-select-lookup-fields-mxn-using-zoho-crm-apis
    • What's New - May 2026 | Zoho Backstage

      Another month, another round of improvements in Zoho Backstage. We’ve been busy refining existing experiences and introducing new capabilities to help you plan, manage, and deliver successful events with less effort. Here’s a quick look at everything
    • Recurring Events Not Appearing in "My Events" and therefore not syncing with Google Apps

      We use the Google Sync functionality for our events, and it appears to have been working fine except: I've created a set of recurring events that I noticed were missing from my Google Apps calendar. Upon further research, it appears this is occurring
    • Zoho Books - France

      L’équipe de Zoho France reçoit régulièrement des questions sur la conformité de ses applications de finances (Zoho Books/ Zoho Invoice) pour le marché français. Voici quelques points pour clarifier la question : Zoho Books est un logiciel de comptabilité
    • Writer is horrible

      Form filling is about unusable for complex forms! I am so tired of it.
    • Deleted User Emails

      I need to delete a user as I need to re-use their license, but I'd like to keep all their emails that are attached to various contacts in the CRM. Their emails are hosted externally on an M365 license. Anyone any idea how best to engineer this? TIA
    • Cliq iOS can't see shared screen

      Hello, I had this morning a video call with a colleague. She is using Cliq Desktop MacOS and wanted to share her screen with me. I'm on iPad. I noticed, while she shared her screen, I could only see her video, but not the shared screen... Does Cliq iOS is able to display shared screen, or is it somewhere else to be found ? Regards
    • Product sorting in Zoho Commerce - how can I influence standard behaviour?

      Hello Zoho, I want to sort my products by e.g. name, SKU (Ascending / Descending) or by another attribute. I could neither find any solution in the settings, nor an entry in this help. Can you advice how this would work? Seems the standard sorting is
    • Dynamically prefill ticket fields

      Hello, I am using Zoho Desk to collect tickets of our clients about orders they placed on our website. I would like to be able to prefill two tickets fields dynamically, in this case a readonly field for the order id, and a hidden field for the seller
    • HOW TO: Searching a thread (email body/text) with a custom function, allowing filtering and specific actions

      We are still trialing out Zoho at this time, but have found a major expected feature to be missing - the ability to search within the text of an email for automation/workflows. NOTE: You need to create a connection for zohodesk under settings -> Developer
    • Composite Services and Account Tracking

      I am looking to garner support/request the ability to make composite services. A quick search in the forums brings up multiple requests for this feature. I fail to see why an item is mandatory while services are optional. I also would like to see the
    • Price Managment

      I have been in discussions with Zoho for some time and not getting what I need. Maybe someone can help explain the logic behind this for me as I fail to understand. When creating an item, you input a sales rate and purchase rate. These rates are just
    • Workflow Assistance in Zoho CRM

      Our client's sales team visits customers on-site and currently fills a physical paper form to capture customer details, and then separately re-enters the same data into Zoho CRM via the mobile app — resulting in double data entry. We want the salesperson
    • Not able to see appointements when the territory permission is activated

      Hello, I created different territories to separate the various departments within the company that will be working on different projects. The issue I am currently experiencing is that when I enable territory-based permissions, I can see the work order
    • Stop Wasting Clicks: Let Us See All Notes in Quick View

      Hi Zoho Recruit team, I would like to suggest an improvement to the candidate/application experience in Zoho Recruit. Today, it is difficult to get a full picture of a candidate when working from the Quick View, since notes are split between: Notes related
    • Delivery Note without services

      Hi all, It there a possibility to create a delivery note from an invoice without the listed services "idem type: service"? Thank you in advance, Michel
    • Automation Series: Auto-assign Task Followers

      As task progresses, several users are required to stay aware of the updates to plan their upcoming work items efficiently. Manually adding users as followers for an active task might create additional overhead. With this automation, followers can be added
    • Send Email Directly to Channel

      Hi, We are coming from Slack. In Slack each channel has a unique Email address that you can send emails too. I currently forward a specific type of email from my Gmail InBox directly do this channel for Verification Codes so my team doesn't have to ask
    • Terms & Conditions

      I have defined Terms & Conditions in the invoice setting and have set %TermsAndCondition% where I want it to appear but nothing shows up in that area. Is this something we have to define per invoice or can we have a global variable?
    • Billing Status Update

      Hello Latha, I’m working on a new automation (deluge) to fulfill one of our requirements. In this automation, there is a step to update the Work Order billing status from “Not Yet Invoiced” to “Non-Billable.” I tried to find the API information relevant
    • Export to pdf. Images not showing

      My report contains a column with images. When I export it as a list, the images do not show in the PDF document. I have published the report but the images are still not visible. What should I do so that the photos appear in the export?
    • Zoho CRM Kiosk question – Passing Screen Fields to a Function

      I am building a Kiosk in Zoho CRM to create new Supplier (Vendors) records. Current setup: Screen 1 contains user input fields: Supplier Name (Vendor_Name) First Name (First_Name) I created a Deluge function: createSupplier(vendor_name, first_name) The
    • Introducing Custom Columns in Forecasts in Zoho CRM

      Hello all, Forecasts in Zoho CRM help sales representatives, managers, and business stakeholders evaluate performance and plan future sales activities. While standard metrics such as Target, Achieved Amount, and Pipeline Amount provide a baseline view,
    • パスワード

      ログインするためのパスワード取得したい。
    • Associate Zoho Project with Deal that is in a specific stage?

      Hi there, When a deal hits a certain stage, I'd like to associate it with an pre-exisiting zoho project? I am using blueprints. Using a custom function and deluge, how could I do this? I was thinking that the easiest option would be the modify the pre-made
    • [Product Update] Locations module migration in Zoho Books integration with Zoho Analytics

      Dear Customers, As Zoho Books are starting to support an advance version of the Branches/Warehouses module called the Locations module, users who choose to migrate to the Locations module in Zoho Books will also be migrated in Zoho Analytics-Zoho Books
    • Canvases Auto-Skewing/Adding Scroll Bars When They Were Not There Prior

      Is anyone else noticing rendering issues in their canvases today? It seems to be mainly icons which now have scroll bars added which makes them all look off, though some fields seemed to revert to squished length as well. Were the icons replaced with
    • New UI for Writer - Disappointed

      I've been enjoying Zoho Writer as a new user for about 6 months, and I really like it. One of my favorite things about it is the menu bar, which you can hide or leave out while still seeing most of your page because it is off to the left. I think this
    • Client Script Button in Related List become invalid

      Hi, I am the admin of our organization. And I setup a client script button in related list to raise payment refund request While this button become non selectable recently. I believe there is something wrong from zoho as this button had run for a year.
    • SMTP outgoing problem

      Hello I have a website where the SMTP email is connected through Zoho Mail SMTP. Today I am no longer receiving emails from the website. Joomla shows that the email was sent successfully, but I do not receive it.
    • Fiscal year setting

      Hi, I am looking into using Zoho Books. I cannot understand the organisation fiscal year setting. Our fiscal year runs from 1 April to 31 March. In the organisation profile, I need to set Fiscal Year to “April to March” and Start Date to “2” for the period
    • Issue with payments on invoices

      Hello, I’m having the following issue. When I create an invoice and try to apply a partial payment in a single transaction, the system does not allow it — it only allows full payment. Is this the expected behavior, or am I missing some configuration?
    • auto add as member the contact owner

      is there a way that i can make a zoho flow that will add the owner of the contact as a member of the chat after the round robin assignment?
    • Welcome to Zoho CommunitySpaces

      Hello everyone, This is your space to ask questions, share ideas, and connect with others building and growing their own communities. For those new here, Zoho CommunitySpaces is a platform for building and managing online communities—from discussion spaces
    • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v.1.20.4.0)

      Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with some new features to elevate your work experience. Let's take a quick look at what's new. Export emails. You can now export emails in the .eml file format as compressed zipped files to create a secure
    • Announcing new features in Trident for Windows (v1.14.5.0)

      Hello Community, Trident for Windows is here with new features to elevate your workplace productivity. Let's take a quick look at what's new. Add and edit contacts Previously, you could view all of your personal and organizational contacts in Trident.
    • Next Page